Saving for retirement is hard. Then it’s easy. Then it’s not so bad. Then it’s hard again. The tough part is having to actually see the money disappear from my hands every month.

Not long ago, my retirement savings were automated. I hadn’t gotten a Roth IRA yet and all I had was a 401k with my employer. I didn’t think anything of it. Countless articles and people older in age would tell me with terror in their eyes to sign up and contribute to my 401k.

Well-intended advice that falls short.

I was contributing to my 401k! #responsible Every two weeks when I would get paid, money would automatically get taken out and put into my 401k which had an employer match. Easy, breezy.

Not anymore. Since I changed jobs, my new position doesn’t offer a 401k plan. Saving for retirement has become a very conscious thing. In my current situation, I can’t do automatic transfers to my Roth IRA, it has to be done manually.

Physically seeing the money go out of my bank account and into something I won’t access for the next 45 years? It’s freaking hard. 

Then I think back to a conversation I had with my dad about his retirement. He, along with many people from his baby boomer generation, didn’t properly save for retirement. My dad is 57 years old and only has a small amount in his 401k.

Luckily he has a healthy pension to look forward to as well as a decent size monthly social security check. Retirement will happen for him when he hits 67. One of the lucky ones.

While many baby boomers are having trouble dealing with retirement, a new focus is on millennials. Is retirement harder for millennials? How the heck are we going to to do it?

Student loans

Many people are graduating university with over $30,000 in student debt. The class of 2016 graduated with an average of $37,000 🙁

This increasing debt is causing shifts in life. With a high loan payment every month, little financial literacy, and a small salary, stashing money away for retirement isn’t a big priority for people. Pushing off investing until the late twenties and early thirties, they’re losing out on the power of compound interest.

High cost of living

Everything seems to be making leaps past the inflation rate: higher education, healthcare costs, homeownership and more.

More materialism

Everyone wants the biggest house, nicest wedding, brand new car, and cool new iPhone 7. There’s a reason the minimalism movement has gained popularity in the past few years. Materialism has been ahead of it and some people don’t want it anymore.

People are moving into big houses they can’t afford, buying new cell phones they don’t need, and generally not being conscious of their spending. Constant advertisements and things like Amazon Prime two-day shipping, one-click ordering and Amazon’s Dash button make getting things super easy. The barrier to entry with spending has been lowered.

Longer life expectancy

Longer life expectancies make the traditional retirement age of 65 more unlikely. Social security payouts are going to be a lot smaller for millennials than they are currently for baby boomers.

Are you ready to live well into your 90’s? Retirement planning is going to involve 25-35 year forecasts with our money.

With pensions being a thing of the past (even the U.S. military is cutting them), higher costs of living, and more debt, is retirement harder for millennials? I don’t think so. In a way, retirement is easier for millennials.

Millennials have resources at their fingertips that didn’t exist for previous generations: hundreds of personal finance websites and blogs offering money management insight, mobile apps for brokerage accounts, and even robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront taking care of investing for you.

What do you think about millennials and retirement? Do you think retirement is harder for millennials?